Wednesday, June 25, 2014

a Stewart and Clark speedometer, not a Stewart Warner. I need to look into that and see if this was the same company before a merger or other business deal

the license plate is leather, and the aluminum ones weren't the uniform plate size and material yet, that would be another 10 years or so in the making. Also, note that the steering wheel and drivers seat are on the right hand side, as left side driving position also wasn't uniform yet

75 positions were eliminated, some good and expensive ones. Compare the cost of So Cal (El Segundo is the office location of Source Interlink) with the lower peninsula of Michigan (Ann Arbor is home to Automobile Magazine). That probably explains the trouble of being profitable in So Cal. This doesn't explain the relocation of Automobile Magazine to El Segundo, but.. it's likely they decided to move it all under one roof. Less rent and cost of two offices. http://autowriters.com/ Jean Jennings, president and editor of Automobile Magazine (a favorite of mine) opted out, was fired, or decided to not uproot her life to stay with the magazine. Since magazines aren't doing so well, it's a good time to move on.

I can tell you Popular Hot Rodding has sucked for a while. It was pretty good last year, but I doubt I spent 10 minutes an issue the last 6 issues

Automobile's circulation in the last six months of 2013 averaged 569,671,
Print ad pages have declined 4.3% through June from the equivalent six months a year earlier, according to Media Industry Newsletter.

Motor Trend, which has a circulation of more than 1.1 million, saw ad pages fall off 15.4% during that time.

And it seems the highest ranked car websites (Autoblog, the Truth About Cars, Leftlanenews) are maybe having a bit of trouble.

The writer of the referenced article below is pretty rough on blogs, most magazine writers and publishers seem to be snobs and elitist regarding blogs vs magazines. Must be the dilution of the ad revenue, and no one feeling job security.

One of the country’s largest magazine wholesalers officially went bust on Monday — one month after losing its largest customer.
The parent of Source Interlink Distribution, which trucked magazines from warehouses to retailers for Time Inc. and others, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection after losing money for years.

While Time Inc., which publishes some of the best-read magazines in the country, like People, Sports Illustrated and InStyle, was the hardest-hit by Source’s shuttering, the entire industry felt the blow and some retailers could see a magazine shortage this summer as the industry looks for other companies to fill the void.
Source is owned by Golden Tree Asset Management, a hedge fund, with an 82 percent stake. JPMorgan owns 9.3 percent and GE Capital has a 5.7 percent stake.

The parent, Source Home Entertainment, owes Time Warner Retail Sales $53,776,843, according to court papers. Time Inc., in a filing, said it expected Source’s shutdown will decrease operating cash flows by $12 million.

Curtis Circulation Company, a national distributor for other magazine publishers, is owed $49.1 million, while CoMag Marketing Group, which is the national distributor for Condé Nast and Hearst titles, is owed $32.8 million, court filings show.

The latest Chapter 11 filing does not involve Source Interlink Media, which publishes special interest magazines including Motor Trend, Automobile and Hot Rod. Source owners had split the company in two earlier this year with separate boards.